


Ball at your court

by OdotumSuojelius



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Tennis, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Rivalry, simi as their trainers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29697495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OdotumSuojelius/pseuds/OdotumSuojelius
Summary: girl!brocedes tennis auNico always wears a top and a skirt. Lewis always wears a dress. Nico’s long blonde hair is always up on a tight ponytail. Lewis’ hair changes with her mood. Nico is athlete for Nike. Lewis is athlete for Puma. Even their trainers are old rivals. They are the perfect parreals of each other. The only thing connecting them is that they are both the greatest talent women’s tennis has ever seen
Relationships: Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton/Nico Rosberg
Comments: 13
Kudos: 44





	1. Lewis' pov

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scarletred](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletred/gifts).



> This all started with scarletred's simple tumblr post "brocedes tennis au" and my brain went "make it girl!brocedes" and ran with it and the result is this! I hope you will like this :3
> 
> Disclaimer: What is tennis? I don't know. I mostly wrote this because of pretty skirts!
> 
> A big thank you for [JustAnotherF1Fangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherF1Fangirl/pseuds/JustAnotherF1Fangirl) for proof-reading this fic!

Lewis couldn’t remember her life without Nico’s presence in it. Damn the blonde. 

It was natural, of course. When you are both the same age and top of your sport, you will end up meeting a lot of times during your career. Totally natural and something you had to get used to. The problem just was that Nico was so _freaking_ annoying that being around her was pure torture. 

Nico was talented. There was no question about it. But Nico was also spoiled, selfish and cold. Yes, maybe she was only cold toward Lewis and, okay, Lewis had to admit that she sometimes (always) was cold towards Nico as well. But Nico was just so annoying. She was also absolutely stunning. 

That possibly annoyed Lewis the most. 

#

It was the first tournament final of the new season. Nico versus Lewis. It wasn’t really a surprise to anyone. They had dominated the matches leading up to the final, easily making their way to just two of them. It seemed like the whole season was going to be just two of them. 

Lewis absolutely hated (loved) that.

So, there they were, in the tunnel, just two of them waiting for the announcer to call them up to the pitch. Nico was focused on just juggling with a few tennis balls while Lewis leaned down to the wall a few meters away. She couldn’t stop gazing at Nico. 

Nico always wore a skirt and a top. Lewis always wore a dress. She didn’t see the point in wearing skirts. They were unnecessarily sexualised and just drew attention to the ass (add to that the troubles the wind brought). But then again, Nico clearly loved the attention. No surprises there. This time Lewis was sure Nico’s skirt was even shorter than it normally was. The bastard. 

Nico also always wore her long blonde hair up on a tight ponytail. Lewis had no idea how she could actually do anything with it being so tight, but Nico had worn her hair like that as long as she could remember. Meanwhile, Lewis changed her hair whenever she felt like it. She coloured it. Cut it. Got extensions. Whatever she felt like. Rather that than be stuck on just one model (which she had to admit Nico wore well).

“Good luck,” Nico whispered to Lewis with a sly smile as she walked to the pitch, hearing her name. Lewis tried to come up with a good comeback, but Nico was already gone. 

Nico ended up winning the first tournament of the season. Lewis was now absolutely sure that Nico’s skirt was way too short, her butt showing so nicely every time she bent over. Which she did a lot. And always with her back towards Lewis.

Lewis was so close to running to the press and shout about Nico’s tactics. But that meant she would had have to admit that she looked at her rival’s butt. And next to that, she refused to talk about Nico in interviews (Nico also refused to talk about Lewis in her interviews). That left Lewis with only one thing to do. Plot how she can distract Nico. 

Lewis won the second tournament of the season. She wouldn’t do something dirty like Nico did. She simply groaned (more like moaned) a bit louder with every hit to the ball. It worked like magic. 

#

However, the worst thing about Nico was that Lewis couldn’t avoid her. Not even on her time off. Lewis was casually flipping through a fashion magazine when she landed on a whole spread of pictures showing Nico in her Nike gear. Lewis growled a little before quickly turning to the next page. 

Nico had a deal with Nike, and it seemed like she appeared in their every freaking advert. Lewis meanwhile had a deal with Puma and she made sure that she was in every single ad. She got her original deal two weeks before Nico got hers. Lewis took that as a win. 

Lewis made sure she wasn’t following Nico on any social media platform. Nico didn’t follow her either anyway. The less she saw the better. So to say she was a bit annoyed when pictures from some lingerie shoot Nico had done jumped up as she opened her Instagram was an understatement. 

“That fucker!” Lewis growled starting to swipe through the pics some fan page had posted. She walked right away over to the sofa where her trainer/manager was sitting waiting for her to go through the schedule. “Did you know about this?” 

"What?" Sebastian asked, confused as Lewis pushed her phone to his face. It took him a moment before realising what he was looking at. "Oh, these pics! Yeah yeah, Kimi told me that Nico will do this."

"I still don't like how close you are with my rival's trainer," Lewis noted, slumping down to the sofa and just taking her phone back and looking at the pictures. The most annoying part of it all was that they looked _amazing._

"Pretend you hate it," Sebastian chuckled and focused back on the calendar that laid on the coffee table. "That way you at least get Nico gossip."

"Yeah, but it also makes me question what all you tell Kimi about me and him to Nico."

"Hmm, it's the double-ended sword I guess."

Sebastian was smirking at her. Lewis rolled her eyes. Really, she trusted that nothing very important about her life wasn’t spilling to Nico’s ears. Sebastian and Kimi’s friendship wasn’t a thing to be wary of. If anything it was just another parallel in her and Nico’s lives. 

Sebastian had been there since Lewis was 15 years old. He was an old tennis player and used to be one of the two best tennis players there were at his time. He took Lewis under his wing to both manage and train her to become the best. Lewis could have never done as well as she had without Sebastian. 

The thing just was that the other best tennis player of his time was Kimi. Who, of course, started training Nico right after Sebastian had started training Lewis. Nico and Lewis and especially their rivalry often got compared to the rivalry of their coaches. If you asked Lewis, there was nothing similar in their rivalry. 

First of all, Sebastian liked Kimi, Lewis didn’t like Nico. Second, Sebastian had a bunch of good memories about Kimi, Lewis had bad ones about Nico. Third, Sebastian wanted to hang out with Kimi all the time, Lewis wanted to avoid Nico at all cost. 

Like when she scrolled through Instagram, she really didn’t need to see Nico in her underwear posing on a bed.

“You think you could get me a photoshoot like this?” Lewis asked just going through the pictures. Fuck, why was Nico so hot in them? He heard Sebastian chuckle a bit and she lifted her head. “What?”

“Up until this point whenever magazines and companies wanted to do lingerie shoots with you, you have told me to say no,” Sebastian said, turning to look at Lewis. “You thought it was objectifying and stupid.”

Okay, yes, she has said that. But if Nico did it, then sure as hell she would too. Just to show off how much hotter and sexier she was. If that’s possible. 

“Whatever.” Lewis shrugged it off like it was no big deal. She finally put her phone down for a moment and focused on her manager. “So can you get me a shoot like that?”

“I’m sure I can. You decide a magazine or brand you want to do it for, and I contact them.”

“Great! I’ll do some research.”

Lewis went back looking at Nico’s pictures. Fuck, she looked amazing.

Two weeks later, Lewis was posting the pics of her shoot on every social media platform she had. Just to make sure Nico had to see her pics like she had had to see her pics. 

#

Sometimes Lewis really didn’t understand Nico. Not that she always understood herself too. 

Like now. 

The match had been particularly intense. It had been going on for hours and in the end, Lewis had won. She should have been out celebrating her win but instead, Nico had her pinned against a locker room wall. She was holding Lewi’s hands above her head while kissing her with bruising kisses. 

It’s not always like that, though. Sometimes they were laying on a locker room bench, Lewis' thighs on each side of Nico’s waist. Lewis was kissing, biting and sucking on Nico’s neck and collarbones. The whimpers that left Nico’s mouth always were music to Lewis’ ears. 

They didn’t talk about these meetings. 

#

Nico was quite often the topic of Lewis and Sebastian’s conversations. It annoyed Lewis a lot. It was like she couldn’t get rid of the other girl. She ignored the fact that it was usually herself who brought Nico up whenever possible. Like now.

”I don’t get why you want so many tattoos,” Sebastian said, looking at Lewis’ trusty tattoo artist tattooing a big rose on her rib. ”I don’t also get why I get dragged to these things.”

”Because you’re my friend and I pay you,” Lewis answered, squeezing Sebastian’s hand tighter when the pain of the machine got a bit worse again. ”And I need someone to distract me… Is your own problem you hate all tattoos.”

”Ah yes I very much enjoy being your scratching tree,” Sebastian chuckled softly. ”And I don’t hate all tattoos… Kimi’s tattoos are fine, actually, quite nice.”

”Kimi has tattoos? Where does he have them?”

Sebastian didn’t answer, he only blushed a tiny bit while just calmly turning a page of the magazine on his lap. Lewis was pretty sure she had never seen tattoos on Kimi, so they had to be hidden. That gave Lewis a new idea. 

”Do you know if Nico has any tattoos?” Lewis asked Sebastian. From what she remembered of seeing Nico, there were none. But maybe there were some. That would be hot. She got snapped out of her thoughts when Sebastian laughed. ”What?”

”Kimi and I have more interesting things to do than talk about our athlete’s body art,” he said and chuckled a little, lifting his gaze. ”Your obsession with Nico is very cute Lewis. If fans only knew how obsessed you were.”

”Fans don’t know anything about our thing, we just athletes in the same sport.” Lewis shrugged a little. Fans didn’t need to know about all the sides of the rivalry and especially the moments in the locker room. Sebastian didn’t need to know about those either. ”And I’m not obsessed with Nico; there is nothing between us!”

”Well, I don’t know how many of the fans actually think there is something but for sure there are quite many creative people playing with the idea… Kimi and I found a bunch of fanfics.”

”You and Kimi found what? You found fanfics of me and Nic- Ah!”

”You gotta stay still,” the tattoo artist reminded Lewis. Lewis growled a little at him before focusing on what Sebastian had told him. Fanfics about her and Nico? That was crazy.

”You found fanfics? Did you two read those?”

”Dear god no… Again, we have better things to do than read our athletes being together but reading the summaries was fun.”

Lewis just stared at Sebastian who focused again on the magazine. But there was nothing going between them. Absolutely nothing. So how did fans get some kind of inkling of something there was nothing of. There never would be. She would never want that.

Lewis spent the rest of the day going through her and Nico’s tag on ao3. 

#

The season continued and it was always Nico versus Lewis at some point. It was always neck to neck, both equally talented. Now, though, Lewis had won two tournaments in a row and she was hyped. She had been in a good mood the whole week and now there were only semifinal and after that final left. 

Lewis was hidden in the tunnel looking at Nico play her semifinal. She knows she shouldn't be there. She should be warming up and getting ready for her own game but she couldn't look away from Nico. This happened every time.

As annoying and selfish and cold and all the bad things Lewis could come up with, Nico was still so talented and watching her play was a pleasure. She looked so carefree and elegant with every hit. Lewis wished she looked as beautiful as Nico always did. 

Lewis looks down to the watch on her wrist, it vibrating with a call coming from Sebastian. Shit, she really had to go. She took one last look at Nico before turning away. 

She managed to take two steps back to the tunnel before a painful scream from the pitch stopped her.

Nico was hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and kudos are very much appreciated! I will post the second part of this on Saturday! It continues straight from this but Nico's pov (and simi moments)
> 
> Moodboard I made for this fic on my tumblr [here](https://maxynorris.tumblr.com/post/644115499076206592/fic-moodboard-ball-at-your-court-girlbrocedes)


	2. Nico's pov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if someone got some notifications for update. I had some troubles with posting this chapter! 
> 
> We change to Nico's pov and I hope you enjoy!

Nico fell to the ground screaming in pain. She was barely able to get her arms to break the fall, her ankle fully giving out. The whole stadium gasped as Nico fell on the ground screaming and sobbing through the pain. It was pain like she had never felt before, the pain going through her whole body. 

She felt strong, rough hands carefully touch her arm to turn her a bit but the pain was getting the best of her and she was starting to fall from reality. She knew the hands belonged to Kimi, she could recognize them anywhere. The hands carefully tried to keep her still while Nico shook on the ground crying. 

“Shhh Nico,” there was a soft voice coming somewhere close and soft long fingers wiped some tears away. “It’s okay shhh. Everything will be okay…”

Nico fought to open her eyes through the tears. She was able to see Lewis’ worried face hovering over her but when then Kimi’s hand touched some part of her ankle, she screamed out in pain before blacking out. 

The next time Nico woke up she was lying in a hospital bed. The pain was still there but it was at least bearable. Kimi was sitting by her bed, going to get the doctor right away when she showed signs of waking up. Half of what the doctor said just passed by Nico, the only thing she understood was that the specialist was on their way and Nico’s ankle would need surgery and her season was over.

Hearing the last part hurt her just as much as her ankle had hurt on the pitch. The season wasn’t even halfway through yet. She had matches to win. She had a championship to win. She had annoying rival Lewis to beat. 

Speaking of Lewis. 

Lewis and Sebastian were sitting in the corner of the hospital room just looking at Nico. If Nico had felt any better and could stop crying, she would have asked what the hell Lewis was doing there but she couldn’t bring herself to even care. She felt like her whole life was over.

It turned out it was only good Lewis was there. Kimi wasn’t the best with emotions and he and Sebastian disappeared at some point when medication had forced Nico to sleep and calm down. Lewis never left, though. She just moved to sit next to the bed and held Nico’s hand through the night. Nico refused to look at her.

The room was completely silent except for Nico’s sniffs and the soft beeping of machines attached to her. Lewis played with Nico’s fingers and Nico focused on the touch, trying to distract herself from the pain.

It wasn’t until the sun started getting up again that Nico finally turned to look at Lewis. There was a soft and apologetic smile on her face when she looked at her squeezing her hand a bit tighter.

”You lost the tournament.” Nico’s voice was barely there after hours of silence and crying. The look on Lewis’ face turned a bit confused. ”You’re here. You should have been playing.”

”It didn’t feel right,” Lewis spoke softly. ”And winning would have been too easy with you gone.”

A tiny smile appeared on Nico’s face. She hated Lewis with all her heart just like she knew Lewis hated her — Lewis was her rival, her biggest reason to keep on pushing — but there she was, holding her hand through the pain. At the same time, Nico knew if the roles were reversed she would be there for Lewis as well. Maybe not holding her hand, but definitely not playing.

”Nico.” Lewis’ voice was soothing. ”You will be okay. The surgery will go well, and you will recover and when the new season starts and we will be playing against each other again. I promise you that will happen but now just close your eyes and let the sleep in. Please, Nico.”

Nico looked at Lewis for a moment before nodding giving a little nod. She mouthed ‘thank you’ to Lewis before closing her eyes. She felt Lewis move closer and the soft hand from before was stroking her cheek again. Nico smiled a bit more before she fell into a peaceful sleep.

And for the first time that season, someone other than Lewis or Nico won the tournament the next day.

#

Nico isolated herself from everyone but Kimi after the surgery. Actually, she had also wanted to isolate from Kimi but he refused. He came by every day at least to spend a few hours in silence with Nico if nothing else. 

The recovery was going too slow if you asked Nico. But if you asked Kimi, it was going better than expected. Nico didn’t ask Kimi. She didn’t ask anything from anyone.

The only thing keeping her up and positive were the messages she got from Lewis every day. After getting home she realised she didn’t even have Lewis’ number, but thankfully Kimi was able to get it for her easily. 

It started with Nico sending her a simple thank you message. It quickly escalated to a few messages a day and always good morning and night texts. Lewis asked how the recovery was going. Nico asked her how her training was going. Sometimes they just texted about the latest rumours and gossips. The messages made Nico smile and dear god did she need those smiles.

Especially when it was time for the first tournament she missed. She was sitting on the sofa, Kimi by her side as they watched Lewis fight in the final. They had a big fight about watching it. Kimi thought it would just hurt Nico, but Nico insisted that she needed to keep up with the sport. As a compromise, Kimi would supervise Nico watching it.

Kimi had been right. It hurt to watch it. She knew that she should be playing in the final, that she should be playing against Lewis, but she was stuck watching Lewis play while her ankle was heavily bandaged instead. 

It was no surprise when Lewis won the match fairly easily. To be honest, as much as the match had hurt, Nico enjoyed watching Lewis play. She was beautiful, every movement she did full of passion. She could watch Lewis play for hours.

”Can we switch channels finally?” Kimi asked as Lewis was holding the trophy going to get interviewed. Nico hushed him quickly, just looking at Lewis. ”They gonna just ask the same questions they do every- All right, fine!”

Kimi dropped the remote as Nico hushed him once again with more force this time. Nico took the remote and increased the volume to hear Lewis better. She knew Kimi was right. It would be the same boring questions but this time Lewis’ answer was something totally different.

”Thank you… Ah, you know, winning a tournament is always great and a good feeling, but honestly this final was weird… Don’t get me wrong, Charlie was a great opponent, but it’s not the same without Nico here. She is the best opponent there is at the moment and playing against her is so special. I can’t wait to play against her again.”

Nico felt her heart thump against her chest harder than ever. Lewis talked about her during her interview. She talked about Nico for the first time ever and she wanted to have her back. Nico couldn’t stop smiling, the rest of the interview going by her fully.

”Finally,” Kimi grumbled, grabbing the remote from Nico again when the interview ended. He changed the channel quickly to hockey but gazed at Nico. ”You okay?”

Nico simply nodded, still trying to process everything Lewis said. Lewis missed her. Lewis wanted her back. Lewis talked about her.

Maybe their rivalry was never that serious.

#

Hamilton  
  
  
I feel like I would be good enough for a little training match. You want to play together? 🎾  
  
Only if you’re sure you’re okay to play though!  
  
Yes I’m good 😊  
  
Okay 🥰  


It was almost two months after the surgery and Nico felt ready. She had been training so hard and she was ready to get back. If she managed to play a game against Lewis now, maybe she could even get to take part in the last tournament of the season.

Kimi thought this was stupid and dangerous. Nico didn’t listen to him.

Instead, they arrived at Lewis’ house one sunny afternoon. Nico was wearing a brand new skirt and top making her feel like she was ready and confident. They found their way to Lewis’ backyard pitch where she was waiting for them with Sebastian. The smile on Lewis’ face made Nico feel butterflies in her stomach.

That kept happening lately. When Lewis sent a message telling her she missed her or when she sent her a silly selfie, there were always butterflies and a smile. Nico wished the pictures she sent had at least some reaction to Lewis.

”Hi.” Lewis smiled excitedly at Nico as she walked over to her. Meanwhile Kimi walked over to Sebastian right away. ”You look amazing.”

”Yeah I know.” Nico smirked a little making a quick twirl in front of Lewis, the skirt falling perfectly. She noticed Lewis’ gaze following it. ”Thanks for the opportunity to play.”

”Of course.” Lewis smiled at Nico before getting a bit more serious look on her face. ”Are you sure that you are ready to play?”

”I promise!”

Lewis looked at Nico for a moment before nodding and taking her place on the other side of the pitch. They started the game both starting it slow and playful. It felt good but it wasn’t the game Nico wanted. She was ready for more. Slowly the game started picking up pace.

”Nico.” Kimi’s warning tone came by the side, but Nico didn’t even gaze at him. 

The discomfort in her ankle started getting worse with every step but she pushed through. Kimi never let her train this intense, it was only careful exercises in the gym or hitting the ball. She was now finally playing again and she wouldn’t stop just because of a little pain.

Except the pain was getting worse and when Nico made a leap for the ball the pain spiked sending Nico straight to the ground with a loud whine. Nico managed to get hands on the way this time softening the fall.

”That’s it!” Kimi clapped his hands standing up walking over to Nico right away coming to the ground to take a look at her ankle. Nico leaned against her arm just panting and looking away. ”Your stubbornness will be the end of you... or at least me.”

”Are you okay?” Lewis hurried over to Nico right away coming to the ground. Even Sebastian came closer. ”I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have played so hard. Is my fault!”

”No is Nico’s fault but she doesn’t listen,” Kimi said before Nico even had a chance to react to Lewis. Kimi pressed around the ankle making Nico swear. ”I gotta bandage this again.”

Nico still didn’t say anything just wiping a fallen tear off her face with the back of her hand. Kimi gathered Nico into his arms, easily lifting her up and carrying her to the house. Lewis followed close, looking at Nico with worried eyes. Nico looked away from her.

Of course she knew that it had been stupid to keep playing like nothing was wrong. It was stupid to even start playing. But she simply wanted to be ready. Be fit. Play against Lewis again. 

Kimi laid Nico on the living room sofa and started bandaging her ankle tightly again. Nico frowned through the pain. She shot Lewis a pleading look offering her hand to distract herself. Lewis hurried to sit next to Nico taking her hand playing with her fingers just like in the hospital. 

Nico's ankle was now tightly bandaged while she held ice against it. The pain was slowly fading away. Kimi and Sebastian decided that neither of their athletes would be training anymore, and instead they left together to get pizzas for everyone, leaving Nico and Lewis together. To their discomfort.

It had been so easy to talk through text. Keeping up conversations for days was easy, but now Nico was only gazing at Lewis, not knowing what to say. They had never actually talked to each other live if you condone a few sentences here and there, but actual conversation no.

That had felt natural. After all, they were rivals. Enemies. Parallels. They didn't need to talk to each other (not even when there were kisses, the touches speaking enough) and Nico was happy with that. Except she wasn't right now.

Maybe she and Lewis weren't that different. Maybe they were actually incredibly similar, and that is why they crashed so much. And probably why both of them were alone so much. And why Nico just wanted to be close to her now.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

"Can I have some water?"

The questions came at the exact same time making both of them break into a laugh. Lewis stood up right away, walking to the kitchen while Nico's eyes followed her. She had to keep the conversation going.

"I like your house,” Nico told her with a smile. "The much I have seen of it. The pitch is beautiful."

"Thanks.” Lewis smiled back with a bright smile as she gave Nico a water glass. "I would happily give you a tour but, well… your ankle."

"Thanks.” Nico took the glass. She gazed at her ankle. "Yeah… Maybe when it gets better… _if_ it gets better."

"It will Nico! I promise it will… I don’t know if you remember, but when we were like sixteen, I was on the sideline from playing for like six months because of a thigh injury. It felt like it was the end of the world and I would never get back. But obviously everything worked out fine, and here I am… You will come back stronger than ever.”

“I remember you disappearing and hearing about an injury… I mean, the tournaments got a lot more boring while you were gone.”

“Just like my tournaments are boring now that you’re gone.”

Nico smiled softly, feeling the butterflies again in her stomach as Lewis smiled at her. She moved a bit closer to Lewis as they started sharing memories of their junior careers, laughing about weird opponents they had and the craziest tournaments they went through together and alone. It was like they had been friends for a long time. Maybe in some way they had always been.

“Ugh, what is taking Seb and Kimi so long?” Lewis groaned at some point, looking at her phone. Nico snuggled against the sofa, just admiring Lewis as she was taking a sip of her drink. “I’m so hungry. I just want my pizza!”

“They are probably fucking in the car or something,” she said carelessly sending Lewis to a full coughing attack, almost choking on the water. Nico moved to whack Lewis’ back right away. “You did know that they are together, right?”

“No! What do you mean they are together?!” Lewis managed to get out in between her coughs while Nico rubbed her back. 

“They’re literally married and live together.” Nico chuckled a little at Lewis’ horrified face. Seemed like drinking with Kimi gave her more than just killer hangovers. Her trainer had a habit of going fully soft talking about how much he loved Sebastian every time. “They have been together since they played against each other.”

Lewis just stared at Nico, a confused and terrified look on her face that only made Nico giggle. Luckily, Kimi and Sebastian came back at that point, carrying three big pizza boxes with them to the living room. Lewis immediately attacked Sebastian with questions and accusations and needing an explanation of everything. Nico just smiled a bit smug. She knew more than Lewis. She took it as a win.

That’s how they all ended up eating the pizzas on Lewis’ living room floor while Sebastian told them his and Kimi’s love story. How they came to the sport at the same time as adults and seemed to always be playing against each other. They also seemed to always find each other in the hotel bars and the nights ended up in one of their hotel rooms. (Nico and Lewis shared a quick look at that point… hotel rooms… locker rooms… close enough). They never even agreed to date, it just happened and they flowed. When they moved to retirement they had got married just two of them. They didn’t need anyone else to know about them and they were happy with what they had. 

Kimi’s drunk version had always been simple: “Sebastian was hot and we were drunk.” Nico liked Sebastian’s version more. 

Kimi and Sebastian went on and on about stories about their careers while holding each other’s hands. Nico and Lewis were just staring at their trainers in awe. Nico had moved to sit next right next to Lewis, resting her head on Lewis’ shoulder while Lewis brought a blanket over them both. 

“Okay, it’s late, I want to go home,” Kimi said after one of the stories had ended. It was already dark outside and he stood up, pulling Sebastian with him. “Nico, you need a ride?”

Kimi had picked Nico up the morning. The plan was to play a simple game with Lewis and then back to Nico’s house for lunch together. It had all obviously changed, and Nico definitely didn’t want to go home alone. She felt comfortable with Lewis. She gazed at Lewis, who was also looking at her.

“I have a spare room,” Lewis offered with a soft smile. She blushed a bit. "If you want to stay."

"Yeah I would like that.” Nico smiled back at her and reached to squeeze Lewis' hand under the blanket. She turned to Kimi with a smile. "I don't need a ride."

Nico ignored the look Kimi and Sebastian shared and focussed on Lewis instead. Lewis, who wanted her to stay. Lewis, who she wanted to keep close and never let go. Lewis, who felt so much more than a rival at the moment. 

Nico and Lewis stayed on the floor, just sitting under the same blanket together for a while, even after Kimi and Sebastian left. Only when Nico let out a little yawn Lewis got up to clean the pizza boxes away quickly. Nico looked at Lewis clean and she felt useless. She tried to stand, holding on to the sofa to keep her balance. She managed to get herself up, but after taking the first she already felt weak.

"Nico no.” Lewis put the pizza boxes down and hurried to wrap her arms around Nico. She pulled Nico against her. "Kimi said you're not allowed to use that leg for two days."

"I know but..." Nico whined a little, looking at Lewis. Her thought got interrupted by realizing Lewis was _really_ close to her. Her eyes lowered to Lewis’ lips. It had been so long since she had been this close to Lewis. ”Fuck, I missed you. Just to touch you and-”

Lewis pressed her lips against Nico’s, interrupting her speech. Nico gasped against her lips and Lewis took it as an opportunity to kiss her deeper. Nico pulled her closer, moaning softly. Lewis lifted Nico and she wrapped her legs around Lewis’ waist.

They ended up in Lewis’ bed for the night.

#

Next time Nico left Lewis’ place, it was only because Lewis had to leave for the next tournament. That meant they lived two weeks together. Eating together. Training together (only the gym parts Kimi didn’t let Nico play and even Lewis refused). Hanging out together. Sleeping together. 

It all worked surprisingly well. It was like they fitted each other perfectly. Nico did the food for them both, making sure it fit their diet. Lewis made sure that Nico didn’t try to sneak more training into her schedule than permitted. Even Sebastian and Kimi seemed to like coming to work together at Lewis’ place.

”So,” Kimi said to Nico one afternoon as they watched Lewis’ fight for the win in the last tournament of the season. They were at Nico’s place, but she had Lewis’ Puma hoodie on. ”Have you two talked about what you are?”

”Not really,” Nico said, playing with the hem of the hoodie. It didn’t mean she didn’t think about that. ”We learned from our trainers to just flow. Been working out for them quite well.”

”Sure,” Kimi chuckled as he took a sip of his beer. ”What about now that Lewis’ off season starts? Meanwhile, you are fit enough to start training for real… What happens then?”

”We flow.”

#

Flowing seemed to work for them. First, they took a two week holiday in Greece, getting a perfect tan and making amazing pictures for Instagram that looked different enough for the fans not to get any ideas. They were both busy doing promo pics for their respective brands. They separated their training a bit again, but they also learned to have playful games with each other that more often ended with playful tag games or wrestling. 

Finally, it was time for the first tournament of the season. Nico had left for training camp two weeks earlier to get full focus. When the tournament rolled around, Nico and Lewis kept their distance. There was already enough pressure of it being Nico’s return without someone catching them together. 

With some miracle (Kimi said it was Nico’s talent) Nico found herself in the final against Lewis. Just like old times. Except it was nothing like old times now. When they stood side by side in the tunnel waiting for their announcements, Nico held Lewis’ hand tightly.

”Good luck,” Nico whispered to Lewis, gazing at her quickly. ”Don’t let me win easy.”

”Not gonna let you win at all,” Lewis whispered back with a smile. ”Good luck.”

Nico’s name got called first. She leaned to press a kiss to Lewis’ cheek before heading to the pitch. Time to play.

It all felt like the finals from last season. It was just as intense. Just as hard. Just as neck to neck.

When Nico hit her last swing and Lewis couldn’t get back to her, Nico broke into sobs, dropping the racket to the ground. She heard the announcer tell everyone she had won but all she thought was the past half a year flash through her eyes. She felt the all so familiar fingers grip her shoulder.

”You deserved that,” Lewis whispered to her. Nico turned around looking at Lewis through her tears. ”You played amazing, Nico. I love you so mu-”

This time Nico shut Lewis up by pressing her lips against hers. She didn’t care that everyone would see them. She just wanted to kiss Lewis and it seemed that the feeling was mutual as Lewis wrapped arms around her kissing her deeper.

”And there they go,” Sebastian chuckled at Kimi a bit, looking at their athletes. Kimi had walked over to him as soon as the game ended. ”This will be such a pr mess.”

”Nah, they’ll be fine,” Kimi told Sebastian, taking his hand in his own. Sebastian turned to look at him right away. ”They flow.” 

”And we flow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this fic! Comments and kudos are appreciated <3
> 
> My tumblr : [maxynorris](https://maxynorris.tumblr.com/)


End file.
